Ink-fountain for printing-presses.



B. P. HOLZ.

INK FOUNTAIN FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1913.

1,077,882, Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

VI 227265565. I cfizmagZ 2 E. F. HOLZ.

INK FOUNTAIN ron PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLIOA'EION TILED APB-.21.,1913.

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HGLZ

lliz'lZ-EQUNTAIE PEETETEZL;

Applieatien filed. April 21 1813.

To all whom it may comer";

Be it known that I, EDNARD F. Hone eitizen. of the United States,residing Chicago, in thecounty of Geek and lb of Illinois, have inventedcertain new useful Improvements in Ink-Fountains fer 1 rinvingtresses',0f which the following is it "ecification ilfi present invention relatesto certain i. improvements in ink feunt ins for nrinting presses, andarticularly rotary presses, eitheugh, as will presently appear, theinvention is in no Wise limited in its epplicahih ity to the above.

Man-y forms of printing presses are provided with ink fountains ortroughs from which the ink is fed by means of a. twin or series ofreiiers until it is finally deposiied on the'printing form The first orfountain roller of this train is adapted to take the in irein inefountain end transfer it to the next roller of the train. This fountainmlier may operate either cnntinncnsly or intermittently, and ins-y hepertially submerged in, or in Contact with, the ink of the foun tain atall times; or it may serve to Withdraw the ink from a groove or slit (ifthe fountain from time to time.

On account of t'ne fact that the ink ordinarily used is of highviscosity, and hardens iOIllQWl'ifit rapidly, particularly where it isxposed to. the atmosphere, it has been found that the ink will notnaturally feed evenly and constantly up t0 t 1e first roller of thetrain 01' series. it is found that as the op erations continue, the inktends t0 hold back or away from the first roller, so that in time saidroller Will cease to Withdraw the proper amount of ink at eachoperetien'of the press, with the result that in time the printing willbecome uneven and consequently unsatisfactor-y. In order to meet thisdifliculty it is generally necessery for the pressman to carefullyWatchthe fountein to see that the is properly feeding at all pointsthroughout. its length and it is necessary for him to uniformly pressthe ink up against the said first roller from time to time:

I am aware of the feet that hereteiore certain. attempts have been madete evercerne the objections above outlined, but as far its i are aware,in the pestsueh attempts wheily er artzeliyer ssfni,

heen either ior yiew of {Lil in tons This fercing in up tc the inkingroller 01)- ttently and net continuously,

er else such de ice wes built in and constructed e permanentportion erstructure of the fountain: Censcqnentiy the latter ceuid be easily dthoroughly cleared frem time to tin in order to keep the press in prnpermust he done when it 118st! enge the eeier or uality of the ink.

The main objects of the present invention are to prcvide mechanisms ordevices fer autoinnticully feeding theink up to the first roller of theseries or train such devices being epernted continuously from a suitablemoving part of the press or otherwise. With such an arrangement thestirring up of the ink in the fountain, and its advancement toward thefirst roller, wil nroceed uniformly, therebygreatly iinpre ink feed, andat the Sim? time the ink itself in better eon.

Another ob to so construct the in rementiened niecha nisin er devicethat it can be readily and easily remeved from the fcaim's'iiiri therebymaking it pessihle to mere easily and theroughly clean ens n and"mseeieted parts, and suppiyrg an incentive to the pressman to keen hisin better condi tioe.

(Ether objects and s i detailed description consists in the combinations0; and claimed.

In the drawings ili appear from a. vention which n and embed of a.train, the fountain he one form of device ai of the present nterim Lfarm, 2 poll-11211 L-ilc, i;

2-- 3 :31? Fig 1 the arrows; on line i of iresent inventienis image-2moved by tlii withdrawal of a retaining pin;

' and Fig. 7 is a detail perspective of one of describe in detail theparticular fountain illustrated.

In the particular construction illustrated the first roller of the trainis designated by the numeral 9. As herein illustrated it occupies aposition across-one side of the fountain so that the ink 10 standsagainst the roller, whereby as the latter is rotated it will withdrawthe desired amount of ink upon its periphery. The roller is adapted torotate in the direction illustrated b the arrows in Figs. 2 and 5 sothat the ink is withdrawn from the bottom portion of the fountain. Inorder to control the amount of ink thus withdrawn there is provided aflexible plate 10 which extends along the fountain immediately beneaththe roller and the position of which can be accurately adjusted by meansof screws 11. These set screws serve to determine the amount ofclearance between the plate and the roller. As'the roller is rotatedeither intermittently or continuously it tends to pull the ink downtoward the bottom of the fountain so that in time the area or contactbetween the ink and the roller will be reduced, and in fact may entirelycease in time. In order to overcome this difiiculty I have providedmeans for constantly pressing or forcing the ink of the fountain uptoward and against the roller, at all points throughout its length, thusremoving the pressman of the necessity of watching the ink feed, and atthe same time constantly stirring up or I kneading the ink so that itwill remain at all times of uniform consistency and quality throughoutits mass. For the sake of convenience I shall hereinafter designate theaforementioned pressing or forcing means as a pressing or agitatingdevice.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the pressing or agitatingdevice takes the form of a zig-zag bar 12 which extends across thelength of the fountain and is so mounted that as it is rotated itsprojecting arms will be forced down into the ink, and then across thefountain to carry the ink toward the ink roller. Thus the bar serves thetwo functions of stirring up the'ink and of carrying it over against theroller. This bar preferably rotates in the direction illustrated by thearrows in Fig.- 2, that is, its projections travel toward the rollerduring the lower half of their rotation. When so rotated any given armwill enter the ink approximately at the 1 nt 13, and, after sweepingthrough the ink and toward the roller, will en erge approximately at thepoint 14. From this it will be seen that a very effectual agitation andstirring up of the ink will ensue as well as an effectual transfer ofthe ink toward the roller. This zig-zag bar finds bearings at the twoends of the fountain, and is so mounted that it can be readily removed.For this purpose there is provided a short or stub shaft 15 whichextends through the end wall 16 of the fountain, being held in place bymeans of a pair of collars 17 and 18 which have the set screws 19, andsaid stub shaft carries the pulley 20 by which it may be continuouslydriven from any suitable point. The

inner end 21 of this stub shaft preferably terminates at a point closeto the end wall 16, and it is provided with an angular socket or holefor the reception of the end 22 of the agitator bar. As shown in Fig. 3this socket in the particular arrangement illustrated, but of course anyother form might be adopted, it being simply necessary that a drivingconnection shall be established between the stub shaft and the bar.Obviously the end 22 of the bar may be withdrawn from the stub shaft byallowing the bar to move away endwise therefrom. For this purpose I haveprovided a socketbearing at the other end of the fountain. Said bearingpreferably takes the form of a threaded spindle 23 which is extendedthrough the end wall 24 of the fountain, and is provided with the milledhead 25 whereby it may be easily rotated. A set screw 26 may be providedfor locking the spindle in position. This spindle is preferably providedwith a bearing socket for the reception of the end 27 of the agitatorbar so that the latter may easily rotate while held properly centeredand in position.

It will be noted from examination of Fig. 1 that the end 27 of thezig-zag bar tenniis squared nates at a point within the end. wall 24.

Therefore as soon as the spindle 23 has been threaded back flush withthe end wall the end 27 of the bar can be raised up above the wall topermit the bar to be withdrawn endwise from the socket of the stub shaft15. It is preferred that washers or the like 28 be interposed betweenthe collar 17 and the end wall 16 for the purpose of effectuallypreventing the acc'ess of ink to the bearing within which the stub shaft15 rotates.

The arrangement shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 is similar to that justdescribed in that in this case also the agitator is adapted to berotated continuously, and in that it is so constructed that it can bereadily removed, or at any rate removed to such an extent that it can bereadily cleaned and so that the fountain can also be readily cleaned. Inthe present case a transversally extending shaft 'madc to brea 29 findsbearings in the end walls 16 and 24, collais or the like 30 beingprovided for properly centering the shaft and prevcntin any endmovement. This shaft is provide throughout its length with transversallyextending slots or openings into which may be inserted a series ofpaddles or the like which, as shown in Fig. 5, will work down into theink of the fountain to keep it properly :--l.lI"I(,tl up, and to carryit over against the inking roll. In the particular arrangementillustrated, U-bars 31 are shown as bein extended through the openingsof the siaft but it will be understood that other forms of paddle or barmight be substituted if desired,

For the purpose of holding all of the pad- (llcs in position on theshaft 29, I have provided a removable rod 32 which can be extendedthroughout the length of said shaft, passing through holes or openings33 in each of the paddles, so as to prevent the said paddles frombecoming displaced with respect to the shaft. This rod 32 is preferablyprovided with u milled head 34 and with a threaded end portion 35 whichis adapted to lhrcad into the end of the shaft. 29 so that when it isdesired to lock the paddles in position, the rod may be shoved in untilthe threaded portion 35 reaches the end of the shaft, whereupon theportioir 35 may be threaded up to lock the rod in position; In thepresent case also a pulle 20 is provided .svl ereby the agitator maycontinuously rotated.

It will be noted from an examination of Figs. 1 and 4 that in each ofthe constructions therein disclosed the agitator and presser shaft issubstantially in line with' the upper portion of the roller. B sorelating the parts the addles of the agitator can be if throu h thesurface of the ink contained in the fountain to effectually knead or mixthe same and at the same time, by rotating the a itator in the directionpreviously mentione the ink will be effectually curriedover against theroller.

I wish to call particular attention to the fact that in each of theconstructions herein illustrated I have. provided means for mintinuouslyrotating the agitator as distinguished from means for providing anintermittcnt rotation. I am familiar with certain forms of constructionin which an intermittent rotation is secured, but as previously pointedout such a rotation presents the serious disadvantage that it does notserve to carry the ink up against the roller uniforml nor does itserveto keep the ink properiy stirred u or kneaded as it were, to maintain itof uni orm viscosity and quality throu hout its mass. I wish also tocall iarticu ar attention to the fact that in each 0 the hereindescribed and illustrated constructions the agitator and Presser iseither removable in its entirety, or else it is removable to the extentthat the paddles or other projections which would seriously interferewith a cleansing operation are removable, so that in either case the inkfountain and the ciated parts or elements can be readily cleanednotwithstanding the provision of the improvements of the presentinvention.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with an inkfountain and an inking roller adapted to receive ink from the same, of arotatable device mounted within the fountain, a plurality of sidewiseprojeding extensions on the sameadapted to agitate the ink within thefountain and to carry the same toward the inking roller, and means forrotating said member in a direction to carry said projections toward theinking roller when t iey are. in the lower rtion of their circulartravel, substantial y as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with an inkfountain and an inking roller adapted to receive ink from the same, of arotatablemember having its axis of rotation substantially on a levelwith the u per )ortion of the inking roller, a plura ity of sidewiseprojectin extensions on the said member 'adapte to break through thesurface of the ink in the fountain when the member is rotated for thepur ose of maintaining the ink in uniform con ition throughout its mass,and means for continuously rotating said member in a direction to carrysaid projections toward the inkin" roller when they are in the lowerportion 0 their circular travel for the purpose of continuouslyagitating the ink and carrying the same toward the inking roller,substantially as described.

3.. In a device of the class described, the combination with an inkfountain and an inking roller adapted to receive ink from the same, of astub shaft mounted in one wall of the fountain, a driving elementmounted on the stub shaft there being a driving socket on the inner endof the stub shaft, a socket bearing mounted in the opposite wall of thefountain and a rotatable device having one nd mounted in the drivingsocket 0f the stub shaft and having its otier end mounted in the socketbearing. said rotatable device having a plurality of sidewise projectingextensions adapted to carry ink contained in the fountain toward theinking roller, substantially as descrilxsd.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with an inkfountain and an inking roll adapted to receive the ink therefrom of astub shaft carried by one wall of the fountain, a driving elementmounted on the stub shaft, there being a driving socket on the inner endof the stub shaft, a threaded stud carried by the op msite Wail of thefountain, and a rotatable ri evice haw III) ing one and inserted in thesocket of the stub shaft and the other end inserted in the socket of thestud, said rotatable device having a plurality of sidewise projectingextensions adapted to carry ink contained in the fountain toward theinking roller, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described the combination with an inkfountain an an inking roller ada ted to receive ink therefrom of a stubaft carried by one wall of the fountain, a driving element mounted onthe stub shaft, there being a driving socket on the inner end of thestub shaft,

a bearing carried by the opposite wall of the fountain and mounted foradjustment toward and from the stub shaft, and a rotatable device havingone end mounted in the socket of the stub shaft and the other end in theadjustable bearing said rotatable device having a plurality of sidewiseprojectin extensions ada ted to carr ink contain in the fountain towardt e inking roller, substantially as described.

EDWARD F. I'IOLZ.

Witnesses:

JAB. H. MILum, ED. MILLER.

copies of thin patent may be obtained for he cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner or Patents,

Washington, D. 0."

